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The fingerspelling sign for "L" actually looks like a written "L" when it is made with palm out and with the right hand.

If a signer's dominant hand is their left one, how should they make this sign -

  • with palm out, so that it look likes a backward "L", or
  • with palm in, so that it looks like an "L"?

Similarly, how should the sign for "ILY" be made by a left-handed signer?

ool
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1 Answers1

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Backward L. "Mirror mode" is a natural part of a left-handed 'sign voice', with a few exceptions for signs with external referents (i.e. pointing or referring to fixed points in the space common to both signers) in the grammar of ASL.

This goes further: the distinction between dominant and non-dominant hand is preserved in ASL, maintaining the "mirror mode".

Michaelyus
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